Scientific Name: Clanga clanga
Arabic Name: العقاب المنقط الأكبر
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable
From the Ancient Greek, clanga means “Scream”.
The greater spotted eagle, sometimes just called the spotted eagle, is a large brownish-coloured bird of prey or “raptor”, which means that it’s a bird that feeds on animal flesh – a carnivore!
Despite the greater spotted eagle’s name, it only has white spots as a juvenile, which fade away into adulthood.
This migratory bird winters in the UAE and can also be found in central and eastern Europe, north and east Africa, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, India and east and Southeast Asia.
During the breeding season in Europe and northern west Asia, they can be found in woody habitats close to wetlands, nesting 1-3 eggs. Although the spotted eagle is a quiet bird, it gives out a barking ‘kyak’ call during the breeding season.
These birds are top predators in their ecosystem, as they help to control populations of small mammals and other small vertebrates, and sadly they are now a vulnerable species of low numbers. Migratory birds are faced with numerous and diverse threats, and the spotted eagle is no exception to this. The eagle is vulnerable to extinction because of threats such as habitat loss as a result of urban and industrial expansion for example, as well as by human disturbance specifically during the mating season. The species demands for urgent conservation.
Protecting migratory birds and ensuring environments contributing to their reproduction and safe migration is crucial if they are not to be made extinct. You can help make sure that doesn't happen, find out more.
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Glossary
Conservation
The protection, restoration, and preservation of the natural environment, its inhabitants and its resources
Extinction
The process in which groups of organisms die out.
Habitat Loss
The deterioration of a natural habitat to a point where it can no longer sustain nor provide the resources to support species as it once could. An example of this is the clear-cutting of forests.
Migratory Species
A significant proportion of a population predictably cross one or more national jurisdictional boundaries. For example, flamingos in the UAE migrate to central Asia in the winter months to escape the desert heat.
Wetland
A wetland is a place where the land is covered by water, either salt, fresh or somewhere in between. Marshes and ponds, the edge of a lake or ocean, the delta at the mouth of a river, low-lying areas that frequently flood are all wetlands.'